Role of Women in the Management of Aflatoxins in Mayuge District, Uganda

Abstract:

The study was done to evaluate the role of women in managing aflatoxins using shelling and sorting of groundnuts. A combination of questionnaires focus group discussions, literature, and key informants were used to collect the data. A total of 100 respondents participated in the study. The majority of participants were women and girls, a big proportion of whom were older women (age 31 years), making 55.8%. Of these, 48.9% had only primary education. The study showed that 36.3% of the female were married though the number of widows (18.8 %) was also high. The elderly women were more influential in making decisions on the management of aflatoxins and more females than males used and valued this knowledge. Shelling and sorting were done mainly by hands due to financial constraints to acquire mechanical tools.